Concept books for young readers are important for presenting information to the smallest listener. These include books teaching spatial relationships, colors, time, beginning math and the letters of the alphabet.
But ABC books have become more than a way to teach the alphabet. They are a venue for experimental art and a 26-point format for topics of interest to everyone, not just children. Even a sophisticated abecedarian will enjoy them.
Each season ABC books are printed in new and inventive ways. This year I have seen 19 new editions of ABC books, and their uniqueness is a wonderful surprise. Here are a few of my favorite new ABC books:
"Found Alphabet" by Ramon Shindler and Wojciech Graniczewski, with illustrations by Anita Andrzejewska and Andrze Philichowski-Ragno (Houghton). When the artists found an empty house full of "treasures," they began to put the bolts, chains, ropes, leaves, sticks, rings and cogs together into different shapes making 26 pictures. "We realized that we all live in the house of our imagination." This is truly a clever way for "stuff" to be put together and can inspire anyone in developing his own imagination.
"The Dog From Arf! Arf! To Zzzzz" by The Dog Artist Collection (HarperCollins). These dogs have been seen in photographs, billboards, postcards and commercials. Now they appear with noisy sounds and commands to delight every dog lover.
"Little Bird's ABC" by Piet Grobler (Front Street). On stark wide pages, impish little birds flit and flitter through clever antics. The one-word text, such as "doink!" and "vroom," adds to the humor of this diminutive ABC book.
Other animal books include "Alphabet Stackers" by Jennifer Belle and David McPhail (Hyperion), which combines sassy watercolor creatures with acrostic poetry. For example, the letters for Jaguar are stacked to read, "Just A big cat Growling Until you Agree to give him a ride in your Rolls-Royce." "Alligator Alphabet" by Stella Blackstone and Stephanie Bauer (Barefoot) portrays whimsical animals in fluorescent acrylics. "Zoopa: An Animal Alphabet" by Gianna Marino (Chronicle) begins with a single bowl of noodles that meanders through troops of four-footed friends.
Children will be delighted with the return of the animals in Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin's award-winning "Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type" when they appear collectively in "Click, Clack, Quackety-Quack: An Alphabetical Adventure" (Atheneum). There are all kinds of action on Farmer Brown's farm, and Lewin's wide-awake drawings are just right for reading again and again.
Varied geographical sites are found in "ABC USA," illustrated by Martin Jairie (Sterling), which includes a complete glossary; "New York, New York! The Big Apple From A to Z" by Laura Krauss Melmed and Frane Lessac (HarperCollins); and a past edition of "A Is for Arches: A Utah Alphabet" by Becky Hall and Katherine Larson (Sleeping Bear Press).
In bold block letters Lisa Campbell Ernst has challenged the imagination in "The Turn-Around Upside-Down Alphabet Book" (Simon). It appears to be just a letter of the alphabet until you turn the page around and around and then, just like looking at a cloud, it forms into something new.
One of the first alphabet books printed was Edward Lear's 17th century poem "A Was Once an Apple Pie." Two artists have adapted this verse into new format. Suse McDonald's version from Scholastic uses strong shapes and impressionistic detail made with hand-painted cut-paper artwork. This takes Lear's poem to a new level for contemporary readers. Gennady Spirin's adaptation (Philomel) is stylistically more as Lear would have intended, set in a Victorian countryside and period trappings.
Two ABC books use sports as the theme. "H Is for Home Run: A Baseball Alphabet" and "P for Putt: A Golf Alphabet," both by Brad Herzog and Bruce Langton (Sleeping Bear), are made with realistic pictures from various perspectives of the sport.
Pat Michaels, a veteran meteorologist, wrote "W Is for Wind: A Weather Alphabet" (Sleeping Bear), which combines weather terms and scientific information.
"Jazz ABC: An A to Z Collection of Jazz Portraits" (Candlewick), by trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and illustrator Paul Rogers, presents 25 influential people in music. This is appropriate for older readers. But younger ones will enjoy "The Musical ABC" by Judith Stuchly (Straight Edge), which is a padded baby book just right for tiny hands.
Honoring the men and women who serve and have served in the armed forces, Chris Demarest has illustrated "Alpha Bravo Charlie: The Military Alphabet" (Simon/ McElderry ) using the International Communications Alphabet with signal flags created to give letters a color-coded shape. This is a dynamic book for readers who love codes and want to understand the terms used by the military.